A couple weeks back, the e-mail pals (to whom I refer as "Milords") discussed a topic that made its way into the discussions of my lunch pals (the "Dudes") as well as the dinner table (the "Family")

It would be fun to document some of that discussion. I won't be quoting anyone (at least not without permission) though I will likely mention points which were discussed.

Anyway, to document something I said at the beginning of the conversation, here's a quote from an e-mail I sent to Milords ("BG"=Battlestar Galactica - the current series on SciFi; "B5" is Babylon 5; "H" is Heroes, which got us started on the topic):

It seems very American to want to classify things as "better" or "worse" than other things. We seem obsessed with Top 100 lists, and get into silly (but fun) discussions as to whether Archie Bunker is really a better TV character than Lucy, or Homer Simpson, or whatever.

I could certainly make a case for BG being the best TV series ever. This, of course, assumes that it continues with its current quality until it completes. Yet I would be willing to entertain other suggestions -- B5 was excellent for its time, and if considered without its 5th season, certainly competes (though not in acting, I think -- Olmos could act circles around Boxleitner.) Other series that would enter into consideration for me: The West Wing, M*A*S*H, Star Trek, -- I'm sure there are more -- probably shows from the 80s. We discussed this at lunch yesterday, prompted by Mike's comments. Shawn nominates "The Sopranos" but I have only seen an episode or two of that. I might consider "X-Files" and "ST:tNG" though there were some real stinker episodes, and BG has just had one episode that was less-than-great (in my opinion.) I hear "Seinfeld" was excellent, but I saw it sporadically. And I really do think the first 5-6 seasons of "All in the Family" were hilarious, and important in its time period. "Sports Night" was one of the best written comedies I've ever seen -- but it only lasted two seasons, and its humor was obviously "my kind" of humor and not appreciated by enough people.

Maybe we should develop our own lists: Top Drama, Top Comedy, Top Medical, Top Law, Top Sci-Fi -- with the 10 best in each!

Nah -- we don't sit around enough bars having debates to make it worth the time... :-)

So I think I will put some entries in about "Top" shows. It could be fun. Maybe the blogosphere is close enough to a "bar" -- or as close as we're going to get!